Menopause marks the end of menstrual periods, typically occurring in a woman's late 40s or early 50s. Symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, and bone loss affect quality of life for many women. Current treatment centers on hormone therapy, which eases symptoms but carries risks that need individual consideration.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing non-hormonal drugs that target brain pathways controlling hot flashes, including neurokinin-3 receptor antagonists already showing promise. Researchers are also studying low-dose hormones, novel delivery methods, treatments for genitourinary symptoms, and therapies to protect bone and heart health during the menopause transition.
Neurokinin receptor antagonists
These pills block brain signals that trigger hot flashes without using hormones. Fezolinetant was FDA-approved in 2023 for moderate to severe hot flashes, and other drugs in this class are being tested.
Genitourinary treatments
New approaches target vaginal dryness, pain, and urinary symptoms beyond estrogen creams. Trials are testing energy-based devices, growth factors, and other local treatments.
Bone protection
Studies are examining when to start bone-protecting drugs and whether early treatment during menopause prevents fractures decades later. Researchers are also testing combinations of therapies.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on menopause stage (perimenopause versus postmenopause), symptom severity, time since last period, and whether hormone therapy is appropriate given personal and family health history.
What types of trials are currently open
- Hot flash trials — Testing new non-hormonal pills, hormones in different doses or forms, and combination treatments to reduce frequency and severity of hot flashes.
- Genitourinary trials — Studying treatments for vaginal dryness, pain with sex, and urinary symptoms that often worsen after menopause.
- Bone health trials — Testing medications and supplements to prevent bone loss and fractures during and after the menopause transition.
- Mood and cognition trials — Examining whether menopause-related mood changes and cognitive symptoms respond to specific treatments.
- Heart health studies — Following women through menopause to understand cardiovascular changes and testing treatments that may protect heart health.
Recently added Menopause trials
Effects of Statins and Hormone Replacement Therapy in Coagulation Profile of Menopausal Women With Dyslipidemia
The goal of this study is to understand whether statin therapy, a common lipid-lowering therapy, may improve the coagulation profile of menopausal women with hypercholesterolemia undergoing hormone replacement therapy with oral estroprogestin. It will also learn about the liver safety of the combination. The main questions will be: 1. does hormone replacement therapy affect the coagulation profile? 2. when we add statin therapy due to hypercholesterolemia not improving with lifestyle, does it reverse eventual changes of the coagulation profile occurred after initiation of hormone replacement therapy? 3. do the two therapies have an effect on overall inflammation of the organism? Participants will be asked to participate to the study before starting any therapy, if they need hormone relacement therapy due to symptoms, if they have a new onset of dyslipidemia and if they do not have contraindications to the therapies object of the study. The study is observational, thus it will not affect in any way the clinical care, which will follow only guidelines. During routine blood sample collection, additional aliquotes will be taken for the study at the recruitment, after 3 months of hormone replacement therapy and lifestyle changes, at the end of the study (after one year from the recruitment).
Dietary Supplements and Middle Aged Women (Creatine)
This study will examine the effects of combining different types of dietary supplements on various aspects of health and wellbeing in middle aged women. The main outcomes of the trial will be aspects of health and wellbeing that middle aged women report as increasingly problematic, such as joint pain, fatigue, sleep, and changes in body composition, strength, and inflammation. Participants will consume the supplement(s) or placebo for 8 weeks, and outcome measures will be assessed before and after supplementation.
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